Call for applications: Goethe-Institut International Co-production Fund

The fund is targeted at professional artists and ensembles abroad and in Germany, who are planning a joint project and demonstrably lack sufficient resources to realise their co-production without assistance. The International Co-production Fund promotes projects of a high artistic calibre and considerable public impact.

The results of the collaborative efforts are to be presented in a professional setting abroad, if possible also in Germany. The funding cannot offer full financing, that is why an application should include a feasible financial plan which, in addition to third-party funding, should show the substantial contributions of all the project partners involved. The amount of funding requested should be between €10 000 and €25 000 (about $30 000). Creatives, ensembles and cultural institutions from all African countries can apply, especially those from transition countries as: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa, among others. For the full list of other eligible African countries, click here.

Criteria

• The projects submitted should embrace only the performing arts (no outright film or exhibition projects).
• Expected artistic quality of the project.
• Relevance of the participating artists in their respective scenes.
• Budget indicating project partners’ own contributions/third party funds and a solid financial plan.
• A balanced project partnership based on the artistic collaboration, not dominated by one partner.
• Realisation of at least one performance outside Germany, if possible also one in Germany.
• Projects between German and non-European partners, especially from transition countries, will be preferred (applications from Austria and Switzerland will not be considered).
• Applications for guest performance funding are not valid.

Applications for the International Co-production Fund are made by electronic means using an online form. The blank application form here will give applicants an overview of the structure of the form. Interested applicants can find the application form, as well as all relevant information at www.goethe.de/ikf. The application form is only available and should be submitted in English.

The initial deadline of 15 April has been postponed and will be announced soon. 

Explanatory notice regarding the application:

• The whole application process will take place online. Only fully completed applications will be processed.
• Only artists who do not live and work primarily in Germany may submit an application. The Goethe-Institut abroad can assist applicants, if needed, in translating the application.
• Projects that started before applying cannot be funded. If financial liabilities have been incurred before the support has been approved, applicants should request the so-called “early start of the measure” formally with the submission of the documents. The granting of the “early start of the measure” is neither a declaration of intent to fund nor confirmation of approval. Any bookings or signing of contracts in the context of an “early start of the measure” are concluded at the applicant’s own risk.
• Only projects that have been newly developed jointly between the co-producers can be funded by the International Co-production Fund.
• A co-production grant can be awarded even if the applicants received a grant or other funding from the Goethe-Institut the year before. The grant is awarded to help fund a specific artistic project, one that is in line with the principles of the International Co-production Fund. A grant does not form the basis for any claim to funding for other projects.

For more information regarding application, read here.

Required documents

• Applicants should present their projects in the project description (max of two pages long). Describe the nature and scale of the production and discuss the artistic idea, aims and objectives, and how they intend to achieve them by collaborating with their co-production partners.
• Applicants should present a production plan in the schedule, including a development and rehearsal stage, premiere date(s) and any planned guest appearances.
• A profile describing the ensemble/artists.
• A list of all participants indicating each person’s function in the project and the place where they live.
• In a conclusive and itemised overall financial budget, applicants should specify all income and expenses in connection with the production. All amounts are to be stated in euros.
• Two travel expense estimates drawn up by a travel agency or by an online travel provider.

“With the International Co-production Fund, the Goethe-Institut would like to support the unrestricted international and intercultural exchange of artists and their ideas,” Goethe-Institut said. “The facilitation of such an exchange and the networking it spawns among the various players are equally as important as the productions resulting from the project.

“The project partners have the task of doing active, broad-based, public-relations work, in which the support from the Goethe-Institut's International Co-production Fund should always be mentioned. Both partners should pay close attention to documenting the progress of the project with photos, videos, press reports and other modes of display, in order to facilitate a presentation of the project on the website of the International Co-production Fund.”

View the original call here.